Scott Morrison’s office demanded his department ‘crop out’ his dirty white shoes in an embarrassing family portrait, new documents reveal.
The PM in January blamed his Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet after social media mocked the suspiciously light shade of his right shoe.
Mr Morrison’s media advisers went into damage control after the now infamous image with his wife Jenny and their daughters Lily and Abbey was uploaded on to his official website.
Scott Morrison’s office demanded his department ‘crop out’ his dirty white shoes in an embarrassing family portrait, new documents reveal
New documents obtained by Labor senator Kimberley Kitching reveal the Prime Minister’s Office in November had asked the department to ‘crop out’ his shoes
The Prime Minister at the time blamed his department, joking on Twitter they should have Photoshopped his receding hairline instead of focusing on his feet.
The Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet continues to accept blame for the Photoshop disaster, where the PM’s right shoe was whitened for aesthetic purposes.
New freedom of information documents, however, obtained by Victorian Labor senator Kimberley Kitching show Mr Morrison’s office had requested a picture without the dirty K-Swiss lace-up sneakers.
An early afternoon email dated November 7 last year summarised a message from the Prime Minister’s Office to the department.
‘Message from PMO,’ the 2pm departmental email said. ‘Expecting a few versions of card.
‘In one, please crop out shoes.’
The PM in January blamed his Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet after social media mocked the suspiciously light shade of his right shoe
On Friday, November 9, the department had sent around five concept designs for the Prime Minister’s Christmas card including one with ‘cleaned up’ shoes
In an earlier email that day, public servants within the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet had been sent the photo of the Morrison family.
‘The PMO has provided the attached photo for the Christmas card and would like to speak to the design team,’ it said.
The Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet told Senator Kitching the PM’s office was given several images without the shoe.
‘They received a series of cropped versions in which the right shoe was not included,’ it said.
‘The photoshopped image was generated as part of the early design process for the Prime Minister’s Christmas card, to test the impact of matching the shoes to the white clothing in the photo.
The PM in January blamed his Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet after social media mocked the suspiciously light shade of his right shoe
‘The photoshopped image should have been deleted but was instead incorrectly labelled as final and filed.’
The Department of PM&C maintained that Mr Morrison’s office had not requested a photoshopped version of the right shoe.
‘For the avoidance of doubt, there was no request from the Prime Minister or the Prime Minister’s Office to photoshop the image,’ it said.
On Friday, November 9, the department had sent around five concept designs for the Prime Minister’s Christmas card.
‘I have cleaned up the shoes and I have provided a cropped version without the shoes as requested,’ an email said.
The department went into damage control on January 8 following a series of social media comments mocking the white shoes on the family portrait
The department went into damage control two months later on January 8, following a series of social media comments mocking the white shoes on the family portrait.
‘Yup. Regular bloke. Our tax dollars hard at work,’ one man said on Twitter.
Shortly before 10pm on January 8, Mr Morrison’s office had emailed the department asking about a Photoshopped image that was being mocked on social media.
‘Where did you guys get this photo from? We can’t find a record of it in our system,’ it said.
‘Need an answer ASAP please.’
Labor senator Kimberley Kitching (pictured) received freedom of information documents showing the PM’s office had requested the dirty shoes by ‘cropped out’
A reply was sent shortly after midnight on January 9, confirming the shoes were ‘lightened to fit with the overall design aesthetic for use on the Prime Minister’s Christmas card’.
‘The final Christmas card design did not include the shoes in the image,’ it said.
Mr Morrison’s adviser Dana Robertson was also told the edited shoe designs were provided to the PM’s office on November 9 ‘with advice that shoes had been edited’.
Stephanie Foster, the department’s deputy secretary of governance, told a Senate estimates hearing on Monday the public servants were to blame and not Mr Morrison’s staff.
‘No, the error was entirely that of the department, and the error was essentially in the misnaming and uploading of an image that should have been deleted,’ she said in answer to questions from Labor senator Kimberley Kitching.
‘Neither the Prime Minister nor his office at any stage requested that we Photoshop in the sense that we’re talking about.’